Hoyt & Roberts, comps. Hoyt’s New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations. 1922.
Spider
I’ve lately had two spiders
Crawling upon my startled hopes—
Now though thy friendly hand has brushed ’em from me,
Yet still they crawl offensive to mine eyes:
I would have some kind friend to tread upon ’em.
Colley Cibber—Richard III (Altered). Act IV. Sc. 2. L. 15.
Much like a subtle spider, which doth sit
In middle of her web, which spreadeth wide:
If aught do touch the utmost thread of it,
She feels it instantly on every side.
Sir John Davies—The Immortality of the Soul. Sec. XVIII. Feeling.
Or (almost) like a Spider, who, confin’d
In her Web’s centre, shakt with every winde,
Moves in an instant, if the buzzing Flie
Stir but a string of her Lawn Canopie.
Du Bartas—Divine Weekes and Workes. First Week. Sixth Day. L. 998.
“Will you walk into my parlour?”
Said a spider to a fly;
“’Tis the prettiest little parlour
That ever you did spy.”
Mary Howitt—The Spider and the Fly.
The spider’s touch, how exquisitely fine!
Feels at each thread, and lives along the line.
Pope—Essay on Man. Ep. I. L. 217.